Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I chose to use Build-a-Roo by stamping him on some Greenhouse Garden DSP. I then grunged him up with an aquapainter and some Early Espresso ink like an old loved stuffed animal, and immediately regretted it. He looked much nicer before but I'd already "fussy-cut" him so I wasn't about to start over.

The hearts in his pouch are from the Heart to Heart punch and the larger heart is the Small Heart punch. The background So Saffron paper is dry embossed with the Texturz Plates Kit #4 and the Big Shot. YES, I finally found my Silicone Rubber pad that had been lost (fell behind my file cabinet).

I hope you'll stop by the Diva Blog and check out the other designers and their great samples! Then be sure to play along and let us know. You might even be chosen as our weekly "Featured Artist"!

Thanks for stopping by again today. I'll be gone all day today on a field trip to see the Ohio State Band with my son's 5th grade band class. He was thinking of wearing his Michigan jersey so it could be... interesting. Wish me luck! :)

~Kristin

PS- I forgot to mention that our Annual Holiday Stamp-a-Stack last Saturday was a GREAT SUCCESS and so much fun! We had 24 delightful guests and they did 12 fun projects and we were done in record time (2 hours earlier than last year!)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

No doubt this is not the first you've seen the owl punch used for a super simple and adorable ghost! But, it's the first you've seen it here. For the eyes, I punched out two 1/8" holes then put a scrap of black cardstock underneath.

I enjoyed using the Stamping 411 sketch for this card today. It came together pretty quickly. The colors (all In Colors) were all together in my In Colors bag of scraps and I immediately thought of Halloween. I don't send many Halloween cards, but if I have one close by this week I'll be sure to send it!

I used the Lattice Bigz die in Concord Crush on the dotted Peach Parfait card base. The "BOO!" was cut with the Billboard alpha Sizzlit die and the Big Shot.

Hope you like it. I'll be back again tomorrow with an entirely different card with this same sketch!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Good morning! Are you ready for another wonderful sketch from Diva Coffee Break Designs? I had some time to play a few days ago and enjoyed whipping this clean & simple card out. I exchanged one of the layers on the sketch for a "layer" of dry embossing with my Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. What do you think?

The row of candles on the Concord Crush layer is from the single candle in the Party Hearty stamp set. This color scheme was selected at random by flipping through my new SU Color Coach- love that thing! Did you noticed the scallop rectangle that my sentiment is on?? That is the new Clearlit Scallop Rectangle die that is used with the Big Shot. I totally thought it was bigger than that when I looked at it in the catalog but it is the perfect size for a nice sentiment piece I think!

I topped it off with a flower from the Boho Blossoms punch (cut in between each petal) and a Concord Crush glimmer brad. Hope you like it- I had fun making this one! Go check out the other Diva's creations then play along, why don't you!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Good day ladies and gentlemen! I've got another card for you today- I know, shocker! I've got fall baseball behind me now, and only two weeks left of Midget League football then I'll be stamping much more frequently. Also behind me is a birthday week and this week I'll be prepping for my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack. Do you ever have a few weeks where each time you check something off your massive list you breathe a little bit easier?? That's where I'm at right now- I can see the end of the tunnel.

Today's CAS challenge on SCS is a sketch challenge. I decided to do the Glitter Window technique for the lower snowflake (put packing tape behind the cut out then sprinkle with Dazzling Diamonds!). I do like how this turned out with the exception of my crooked sentiment *sigh*.

This card also qualifies for this week's Just Add Ink challenge to use BLUE! I think I've got that covered. If you want some great challenges I highly recommend this blog.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I don't know about you, but it occurred to me the other day that I almost NEVER sit down to make a card without first scouring the internet for the perfect challenge that I feel up to! Then I end up spending sometimes hours looking for the perfect challenge to fit my current stamp mood.

In fact, that itself- designing without a given challenge- was a challenge. I have been so stressed and overwhelmed lately with LIFE that I really needed to stamp (it might have had something to do with the 5-girl slumber party going on in the next room too). So I pulled out my fabulous new SU Color Coach and was determined to close my eyes and pick a card... well, I closed my eyes and picked a few cards before I found one that really called to me. Then I got to work.

A few times, like a recovering addict, I reached for my mouse to bring life to my computer screen, then I reprimanded myself and dug deep to actually design ON MY OWN! If you are like me and haven't done this for awhile I highly recommend it!

So this is what a non-challenge challenge card looks like. The color combo is Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Melon Mambo. When I first sit down to make a card I always start with my basket of well-organized scraps. Once my colors were chosen I found a full card base (prescored) in Elegant Eggplant but it had 2 small ovals punched from one corner. Instead of putting it back I just tore off that corner and didn't look back. That's how this came to be.

The Old Olive layer is embossed with the Finial Press Embossing Folder. I used the stamp set For All You Do just because. I also used narrow grosgrain, the scalloped square punch and a build-a-brad. Added a touch of Dazzling Diamonds to the center of the flowers then quit.

So after you're done reading this shut off your computer and go stamp something- anything! I CHALLENGE you! ;)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Hello Hello! Wondering where I've been?? Well, I don't even have time to type it all right now, but I have a few seconds before running out the door so I'm posting this card I made yesterday (I think it was). This is for this week's Diva Coffee Break Designs color challenge to use Marina Mist, Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze. Hope you like it! More details later... in the mean time, this new building is one of the reasons I've been so MIA. It just arrived yesterday (the day after my daughter's birthday) and it was a chore keeping it a surprise!! Phew! Someday I'm hoping this will be my stampin' studio.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I loved singing that song to my kids when they were little. I'd rock them to sleep and sing You are My Sunshine over and over again. Then one day my aunt taught me the second verse ("The other night dear, while I was sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms. But when I woke up I was mistaken so I hung my head and cried") When I sang that verse to them they suddenly made me stop singing it and didn't like that song anymore- still don't. Too sad I guess.

Anyway, I still like that saying "You are my sunshine" and had to use it on this card. This is for today's Diva sketch which I really like! I kept it pretty literal other than the banner style sentiment which I just hand cut. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by. Now why don't you go check out the other Diva's samples then play along with us!
~Kristin

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

This was supposed to be a clean & simple layout... can you tell I went a bit overboard?!? The CAS challenge for this week is to do a faux letterpress technique by brayering ink onto a embossing folder before running cardstock through the Big Shot. OK, started out fine. Then decided to try to use the MOJO Monday sketch (159) which should have been easy enough, but then I made this flower carnation and it spiraled out of control from there. This card actually was fairly simple (other than the time it took to make the carnation and having to use the SAMJ not once, but twice). But not nearly enough white space to call it clean so I flunked that challenge!

However, I did follow the MOJO sketch fairly well I think, and I also used a gorgeous color combination suggested by the Embellish Magazine challenge. This challenge also calls for some background stamping which you may or may not agree I accomplished. Let me explain- the carnation flower started as a large scrap of Daffodil Delight cardstock. I stamped the French Filigree background in Basic Gray and the By Definition background in Whisper White on one side, and in Basic Gray on the other side. So, that's my background stamping... then I punched out 8 flowers with my Boho Blossoms punch and called it a paper carnation. So you tell me, did I fail that one too??

Anyway, since I was already over the top for the CAS challenge I decided to go for it and added the pearls details. And don't forget the narrow taffeta ribbon. Deep Breath!﻿

Well, I'm really pleased with how it turned out even though it is a bit over-the-top for my normal style. But who cares?

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop in again tomorrow as I've got another Diva sketch challenge for you and some more Daffodil Delight. It is much more clean & simple and I can't wait to show you!